Overview
- The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that the National Guard mission in Washington, D.C., will continue until Jan. 20, 2029, or until the President ends it.
- The deployment began after President Trump issued a crime‑emergency order in August 2025 that federalized thousands of Guard personnel and brought large troop surges into the city.
- The White House credits the mission and a joint task force with about 12,000 arrests and thousands of firearms seized, but independent reviews note crime was already falling before the deployment and local police data are under investigation.
- D.C. elected leaders have opposed the presence, arguing soldiers are not trained for civilian policing, and the D.C. attorney general’s lawsuit was overturned on appeal while further litigation continues; courts in other states have limited similar deployments.
- Officials and advocates warn of high daily costs and civil‑military frictions, and the mission has exposed personnel to danger, including the November shooting that killed a deployed Guard member and wounded another.